Praise For Pravda On The Potomac

Every now and again, the WaPo manages to get it right. It doesn't really much care for Sam Alito's conservatism and says so. Fair enough. Nonetheless, it argues that this is not a sufficient basis for the Senate to torpedo his nomination. Conservative presidents are going to nominate conservative judges, a simple (and legitimate) fact of political life:

Which is, of course, just what President Bush promised concerning his judicial appointments. A Supreme Court nomination isn't a forum to refight a presidential election. The president's choice is due deference -- the same deference that Democratic senators would expect a Republican Senate to accord the well-qualified nominee of a Democratic president.

And Judge Alito is superbly qualified. His record on the bench is that of a thoughtful conservative, not a raging ideologue. He pays careful attention to the record and doesn't reach for the political outcomes he desires. His colleagues of all stripes speak highly of him. His integrity, notwithstanding efforts to smear him, remains unimpeached.

'Zactly. I respect people who articulate reasonable questions about what the addition of Alito to SCOTUS will mean in terms of, say, the balance between individual civil liberties and governmental police powers. I don't respect people who yell at me that Alito is a secret stooge of the Illuminati and as soon as he makes it to the Bench, Chimpy McHitlerHaliburton's sturmtruppen are going to break down my door and drag me away in the night, probably stopping to knock up my daughters on the way and I'd better get used to being a grandfather since they're also going to outlaw abortion.

Of course, if you prefer your commentary over the top, the Post also obligatorally runs a topical cartoon by premier jackass Tom Toles.